With the recent release of Element 3D V2.2 from VideoCopilot.net, I’ve been busy trying to absorb and learn all the new features. My colleagues and I were really hoping for better light control and volumetric light, but we didn’t get it. Oh well, maybe we will in V3.0.
In the meantime, I’m definitely enjoying the Group Symmetry functions and Matte Alpha the most. These 2 functions alone have given me much greater freedom to construct many objects quickly, and apply custom diffuse maps with alpha channels. The results speak for themselves when I’m trying to make lightning or streaks of “electricity” or “plasma”.
The scene I’ve started to make here is a text or logo revel within a sci-fi setting. The camera can come down the hallway through z-space and will eventually settle on a giant machine that will “electrify” a central space to reveal the text or logo. I’ll post those images very soon….
I started by making these pieces in Illustrator, which eventually became the profiles and shapes that make up the sci-fi hallway
In After Effects, I made a singular comp that contained a solid layer with Advanced Lightning applied.
This was an early proof-of-concept, to see if I could make a “lightning spiral”. Thanks to Element 3D v2.2’s Matte Alpha function, I was able to apply the Lightning comp as a diffuse to a cylinder. Because the lightning is at an angle in the pre-comp, it appears to twist around the cylinder
I also created a control layer (Null object) in the main comp that controls many aspects of the scene, including ambient occlusion, depth of field, and even light color. Linking the lightning color to this layer will help later on if I decide to change or fine-tune it
These are the extruded results of the Illustrator files I made earlier…
A double bevel is applied to this shape…
I also added a panel in the center, which has a chainlink pattern applied (and Matte Alpha)…
Then I started constructing the large center tile. I knew I was going to use Group Symmetry, so I only built 1 corner
This image shows all 4 corners, rendered with more Y-depth, and mirrored with Group Symmetry. I also added neat little neon lights all around
This is wear my corrugated pattern comes into play, acting as the floor. I was also sure to save this entire model as “Large scifi Tile” for later use
Using the smaller scifi tile from before, and some Group Symmetry, I created this angled wall…
The angled walls get multiplied with even more Group Symmetry, along with the floor. This entire module will be 1 giant section of my sci-fi hallway
Here’s how it looks in Ae before it’s cloned
…and after it’s cloned into a hallway
This shows the combination of Group 1 (the lightning cylinder) within Group 3 (the hallway). It works! And it even glows and reflects like it should. Believe it or not, this only took about an hour to create and it renders very quickly. I can even move the camera around without much fuss
In this view, I’ve added a couple point lights to the scene, and linked their intensity values to the opacity values of the lightning arcs
Here’s a slightly different camera angle, with some pinkish highlights at the origin of the lightning arcs
After the hallway and electricity were established, it was time to start modeling the teleportation machine. This part was modeled in Cinema 4D. It became the base
Followed by the main central cylinder
Adding a few more details and wires to the machine
The completed teleporter model
Next, I imported the basic model into Element 3D to apply textures and lights
I incorporated the teleporters into my hallway scene to see how they would interact with the lights and the electric arcs
Here, I added a couple small spheres at the machines’ “nozel” ends. These came in handy for selling the illusion that electric zaps were shooting out
I went back into the Element 3D interface to model my Creation Army logo
Here, I applied 4 custom layer comps to the model’s diffuse maps so the logo looked like it was materializing into the scene
A quick look at the logo within the scene
Here’s on of the final frames with a couple more lights added. Still no color correction or optical flares though
